Wrap It Up! Chicken Salad Wrap Recipe

We've been going to a of hockey games since buying season tickets to the Phoenix Coyotes. Sadly, as any fan knows, arena food is a nightmare and most games start around dinner time. So what's a healthy eating fan to do? Make a protein rich, smart carb and healthy-fat laden, chicken salad wrap for the road! Matt and I will be better fed before we get there and you can do it too! Here's my favorite fall wrap recipe:

Thanksgiving Dinner Chicken Salad Wrap

Feeds 2-3 (I eat smaller meals so there’s usually some left over for the following day).

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 20-30 minutes

1 lb organic chicken breast

Organic flour wraps (I like white wraps because they wrap better and its one of the only "bad" white flour items I have in my diet - moderation! - but you can make them with any kind of wrap you prefer)

Rosemary to taste (we grow this so I use fresh but dried would work, a little goes a long way)

Pinch of salt/pepper

1 Tbsp whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp gravy mix (powdered)
1 Tbsp coconut oil (EVOO works too)

1 Tbsp mayonnaise

Dried cranberries

Crushed almonds

Spinach, lettuce, shredded carrot, bell peppers, onion, etc.

Mix rosemary, salt, pepper, flour and gravy mix on a plate.

Drag chicken breasts through the mixture until coated.

Add the coconut oil to a sauté pan until it becomes liquid (I keep mine in the fridge so it solidifies but you don’t have to, it might already be liquid), spread across the pan.

Pan sear the outside of the chicken until lightly golden brown.

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Cook chicken for 20-30 minutes on a rack (like in a roasting pan) on the center shelf.

Remove when center is white & juice runs clear.

Roughly dice/chop. Add to a bowl and stir in mayonnaise, cranberries & almonds.

Put veggies of choice in the center of the wrap, top with chicken mixture.

Wrap it tight using tin foil (tighter seal and easily peelable if you’re in the car, plus can be washed & recycled later!)

Enjoy warm or chilled.

If you want to eat cold chicken salad wraps don’t forget to allow for the extra time they need in the fridge.

Add it to wraps like this, top a salad with an ice cream scoop full of chicken, or eat as a side dish to something richer like baked butternut squash.

HINT: I like to mix up a batch of chicken salad and enjoy it from time to time over the next few days. This is especially great if you're seeing a game right after work and have minimal time to prepare dinner/drive or take public transportation to the arena. Pre-made chicken and pre-cut veggies assemble as a road-wrap in under 5 minutes.

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Nature’s Path Organics Cereal is a Great Way to Start the Day

Upon arriving home from a vacation a couple weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to find a huge box, sent to me direct from Nature’s Path Organics, sitting by my front door. As most of you have likely garnered by now I love food -- love to eat it, smell it cooking and even have become more adventurous making it at home on a daily basis -- so when a big box of it is dropped at my door free of charge, you can bet that I am more than grateful; anxious to give it a try and share my findings with all of you.

What I found inside was seven boxes of cereals and a few granola bars! Holy cow! I knew there was no way I could eat all of these cereals myself so I called in the troops -- Matt, a friend Dan and my Mom (aka Judi FitzPatrick Studios).

This review is going to be fairly lengthy as I feel it is only right giving a little reaction to each of the products, since they are all so different, as well as sharing information on the company as a whole. Tuck in and be prepared to get a little hungry!

Dan was visiting from out of town for a few days so in the mornings we had an, as Dan so aptly dubbed it, “Executive Breakfast”. The first was the Flax Plus Maple Pecan Crunch. The main reaction he had was “mmm” as he went back for a second bowl. He commented that it was “uncomplicated, they didn’t try too hard with it just maple and nuts”.

The following morning we tried both Flax Plus Granola Vanilla Almond, and Optimum Strawberry & Yogurt. Vanilla Almond received the initial comment “ooh its good” but Dan felt it left a slight after taste which I believe might be from the flax seed oils. I enjoyed the crunch of the Vanilla Almond as it held up great in milk. The Strawberry & Yogurt Dan felt was a little too sweet for his taste but he enjoyed the flavors and textures. That one was actually my personal favorite.

A few days later I had an opportunity to test the Flax Plus Red Berry Crunch. The cereal was hearty and there were a surprising number of berries but my chief complaint is it got soggy fairly quickly. Still tasted great, just a bit soggy. Additionally, while completing the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk Boston in September, we were able to sample the Flax Plus Granola Pumpkin as small pouches were given out to test, so I already knew this flavor was light and also uncomplicated.

Matt had a nice big bowl of Sunflower Agave Plus Granola Crunch and was overall very impressed. So impressed in fact I asked him to shoot me a couple of his thoughts and here is exactly what he said:

“The Agave Sunflower Crunch was a pleasant surprise. The combination didn't work in my brain, but the flavors worked very well together. It was lightly sweet like a honey-cluster cereal, but the sunflower seed flavor balanced the flavor of the cereal well. I will definitely keep this one in the house from now on for a quick snack or healthy breakfast.”

Finally, I sent my mom home with a box of Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch. Upon careful inspection of the box as well as the cereal my Mom deemed that “The flakes are much like any other whole grain flakes - tasty, crispy, not too sweet, a pretty shade of tan.” Unfortunately she was a little bummed that there was a decent amount of crunch but not much pumpkin or raisin included. She did think it was more yummy than the one we received on the walk but was keen to point out “a serving is 3/4 cup, not an entire cup, so it is much higher in fiber than the others, but also higher in calories when compared by dry measure”.

Overall it seems the four of us were mostly impressed with the yummy factor of Nature’s Path. Now I was off to discover just how cool the company itself really is.

On the homepage we are greeted by the motto “Eat well. Do good.” They have meant this for the past sixty years the company has been growing; it all started with an organic berry farm in 1949. The first experiments with cereal came in about 1971 as the company was focusing on all natural and organic, hand made foods for their supermarket LifeStream in Canada. Nature’s Path Food, Inc got its humble beginnings in 1981, introduced the breakfast line in 1985 and debuted their first cereal in 1988.

These folks are true innovators in the realm of awesomeness -- they were the first cereal company to ever be certified organic, they installed an organic garden and composting area outside their building in Richmond, British Columbia, they signed the Declaration of Sustainability and they firmly believe “Do good and it keeps coming back to you.”

I could go on for days about all the good these folks do! Their website is chock full of info on their involvement with organic agriculture, their amazing employee treatment (including incentives to buy hybrid vehicles and tuition assistance), purchasing of Green energy credits to offset plant generated energy, composting food waste, Their EnviroKidz efforts, and donating line waste to local farmers, in addition to so many other initiatives.

Want more anyway? The boxes are a great source of information and provide a good read while chowing down: They introduced the EnviroBox (10% less box) to save water, energy and paperboard (144 tons!). The box itself is even created from 100% recycled material.

So I took a trip to the cereal aisle in my everyday supermarket; want to know what I discovered? Not only is this brand widely available but the prices are in many cases less than those of the refined sugar and artificial flavoring varieties right next to it. Score!

With such a solid eye on the planet for so many decades, an amazing focus on social consciousness and humanitarianism, as well as maintaining the planet through organic practices, and just all around yummy products, I am granting Natures Path Organics the ever sought after and much coveted Five Leaf Rating!

Cereal lovers, snackers and those concerned with the way packaged foods are processed these days will all fall in love with at least one of their amazing flavors; I strongly suggest testing out a few to find your favorite. Thanks for such a strong eco focus Nature’s Path! ♥love♥

Eat Healthy: New source for nutrition info and options

Hola, Jenn-folk! Melissa here. Jenn recently got a tip to check out the site below. Because it's a parent-oriented site, and, um, because I am one, she asked me to take a stab at reviewing it. Here goes!

Before I go too far here, I suppose I should admit that I am presently eating candy corn. And that my kids like a Happy Meal (and dislike most vegetables) as much as the next kid. But like any other parent, I aspire for my kids to be healthy and to learn how to keep themselves that way by making good dietary choices, at least most of the time. I also like to be in the loop on what ingredients and foods are considered -- by groups whose opinions I respect -- to be safe for consumption.

The nonprofit organization Healthy Child, Healthy World is looking out for kids, too, and to that end, it recently debuted a new section on its website called Eat Healthy. And it's jammed with information to help parents make informed food choices -- and tasty meals, too.

The Eat Healthy site's mission (in its own words):

"In a world of processed foods and lean budgets, it can be difficult to make the right choices when it comes to food. Healthy Child wants to make sure that families see the importance of organic foods, non-GMO, and nutritionally balanced eating while encouraging healthy habits."

This site is so packed with information and links that I can barely scratch the surface, but here are some of the key features:

• Interesting recipes: A sampling from the periodically-updated top level page includes Crispy Baked Taquitos with Black Bean Filling, Asian Style Shrimp Pilaf and Confetti Meatloaf. More are available by clicking on Eat Healthy's "Recipes" link.
• A sidebar linking questions along the lines of "What is bisphenol-A?" or "I think I have toxic mold in my house. What can I do?" to answers.
• Links (in the site's "Resources & Advocacy" section) to organizations like Center for Science in the Public Interest, Allergy Kids (raising awareness of food allergies affecting children) and Local Harvest (a site that allows users to track down fresh, locally grown produce anywhere in the country), to name a few.
• Practical tips-and-tricks articles such as "Low Cost Ideas for Eating Organic," "20 Creative Ideas for Healthy School Lunches," and "How to Eat Healthy When You're On the Go."
• Guides to what fish are safe to eat, what produce to buy organic, etc.
• Links to bios on and articles by a handful of "Healthy Eating Experts" who help shape the site's content.

My neighbor Julie, who in her pre-mom incarnation was a science writer, and an avid reader of books such as "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," (both of which are incidentally mentioned as resources on Eat Healthy) was initially a bit turned off by the ad-heaviness of the site. But on further reading, she was happy to see the site's solid connections (via the broader Healthy Child, Healthy World page) to respected organizations like Environmental Working Group, as well as some of the practical "what to avoid" and "how to do this" kinds of lists.

For my part, I had two nits to pick. As I said, there are scads of information here, so it would be easy for readers to get a little overwhelmed (or possibly lost in linkland) unless they took it slowly. And I felt like the "Healthy Eating Experts" section was kind of like a bibliography -- something you maybe have to do to fulfill an obligation, but not the most scintillating use of online space.

On the whole, though, I'm handing out to Eat Healthy for giving those of us with grand and green nutritional aspirations for our kids the building blocks to make them a reality. (Whew...did I just split something there or what? But you know what I mean!)

Healthy Living Is Possible Even with a Busy Life

Over the past few months my best friend and I have been trying our best to get back in the swing of a healthier lifestyle. We meet up at least three times a week and work out, the meals we cook are lower in fat and higher in veggie content and I only have a few days left until I quit smoking forever. We are both very busy gals -- she has twin eight month old boys and their crazy schedules, I write all day -- so we struggled over how to fit a better lifestyle into our lives, but in the end we both decided the only way to do it was to simply do it!

Our workouts are not long but they are intense. During her boy’s morning nap we spend about a half hour on the rowing machine, recumbent bike, ball or Bowflex. This allows us to get a good heart rate going as well as burn off a few calories and tone at the same time without sacrificing any time with the kids or keyboard.

As far as food goes this has surprisingly been the simplest area of health for both of us. Since we are both the Reluctant Domestic Divas it was imperative that the addition of healthful meals was super simple; and it was! Each night she puts together a nice side salad full of yummies like baby spinach, carrots, tomatos and avocado as the main issue in their household was skipping veggies. For us dinner was not the problem but my food consumption over the course of the day had become lax. When I am inspired to write I tend to not leave the keyboard for hours at a time so I would grab things like entire boxes of Cheez-its for lunch. Now I have started getting back into the swing of making fruit smoothies for breakfast and accompany it with a piece of 12 grain toast and a multi-vitamin. My skin and hair has never looked so good! The extra few minutes it takes each of us to infuse our bodies with something better for us has made all the difference in ours and our husband’s attitudes towards food.

Although neither of us would ever claim to be health nuts or better living gurus it is obvious we both have a highly increased level of energy and are feeling so much better about ourselves; and it only takes about an hour a day total to bring about the change. The positive outlook keeps us motivated and it becomes a vicious circle of awesomeness! As the summer months arrive she will be walking more with the babies and I intend to up my workouts to include two days a week (at least) of yoga (great article here on how yoga helps with depression as well). Little steps everyday really add up quickly and I barely remember what I did with the time before pursuing this healthier lifestyle.

How long do you spend in a healthy way each day? What do you do for exercise?